Dirk Braeckman creates new work for the Belgian Pavilion

on view at the 57th International Art Exhibition La Biennale di Venezia, 13 May —26 November

May 2017

Dirk Braeckman’s photographic works bring stillness to today’s constant flow of images. Using analogue techniques, he has developed his own visual language that focuses on the act of viewing and reflects on the status of the image. Braeckman explores the boundaries of his medium and challenges photographic conventions. The camera’s flash reflects off the surface of the subject, the texture of walls, curtains, carpets and posters. His images show anonymous subjects from his immediate surroundings, evoking entirely open stories. The artist shows empty rooms in which time seems to stand still, elements of interchangeable interiors or human figures – all separate from any specific identity, place, time or emotion. Seemingly quiet moments and banal contexts are brewing with action.

"It’s not about photographs that can be duplicated or recognized at a glance", Dirk Braeckman says. "It’s about powerful images that don’t reveal everything and allow their meaning to be shaped in dialogue with the viewer.”

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